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5 Tips for Healthier Winter Mornings in the New Year

I want to thank Tropicana Essentials® Probiotics for sponsoring this post, and for helping me to find ways to have healthier winter mornings. I am all about finding my best self in the new year, and they are a huge help to my new morning routine.

I have two words to say that used to fill me with fear: Winter Mornings.

I know some people do mornings, and do them well, but I’d never been one to enjoy the pre-9:00am time frame. When I lived in California, that might have been the only exception because the world I had known and still knew was always three hours ahead of us. Also, and this is a big one, they didn’t have winter there! I didn’t know a life of rounding up snow boots & snow suits! I didn’t know what it was to reach for the car door and find it iced shut – with a cold steering wheel to boot.

Still, there’s a beauty in winter mornings that I’m now discovering daily.

And that’s in making new routines and changes, and becoming your best self in the new year. In that respect, every morning can be a morning to look forward to. I have somehow found a way to struggle much less, and enjoy much more. I had to work to get there, but now I get up earlier and enjoy it more than I ever thought possible. It was really a work in progress. Once I had kids, I knew mornings might never be the same, but they didn’t have to be terrible. Now that I work more than one job and get the kids/pets ready for their days, I also work at adding balance, nourishment and joy to my mornings.

5 Tips for Healthier Winter Mornings in the New Year:

1 – It’s all about connecting and connections first thing in the morning, but started the night before! Make sense? Well maybe it’s the writer in me, but I like to send out nice emails, e-cards, gifts, etc. the night before – especially when I’m up late – and then I actually look forward to the morning because that means my loved one is reading my words. And smiling!

2 – Do something active. Maybe you’re the type to get up for a run. Maybe you can do a full-blown exercise routine every morning. Maybe it’s just a five minute warmup – or a dance party with your kids. Do something to MOVE!

3 – Take a shower as soon as you get out of bed. Not only will it help keep you warm (or hot), the water and the change in temperature will get your circulation going. I also use Peppermint Essential oil in the shower or right after.

4 – Create a signature or nourishing breakfast. For me, it’s cranberry oatmeal these days. I made it last week with fresh cranberries but the store ran out, so I have made it again with dried cranberries. It’s a good one to use up holiday leftovers.

Recipe at bottom of page!

5 – Discover the wonders of Tropicana Essentials® Probiotics. These are a game changer for me – found easily in the refrigerated section of my local Walmart store. I love that it tastes delicious, and that it’s a 100% juice with probiotics and no added sugar or artificial flavors. Here’s another kicker – every 8 oz. serving of Tropicana Essentials® Probiotics delivers one billion live and active cultures to your gut, plus each serving provides your whole day’s vitamin C!

They’re available in three different flavors as you can see. My favorite is Strawberry Banana, but I was impressed with the flavors of Pineapple Mango and Peach Passion as well. I love that Tropicana Essentials® Probiotics is a delicious, accessible, nutritious and convenient way to get more probiotics into my daily routine. They’re available in 32 oz bottles next to other refrigerated juices at your local Walmart. I generally buy all three for the flavor variety.

I couldn’t keep it to just five tips so I have a bonus one! Have something to look forward to – and then count down to it. For us, it’s the holidays, of course, with advent calendars and the like. We also have an annual winter Florida trip and Des never lets us forget to count down to it! And honestly, just having a great breakfast and drink is enough for me.

And now, as promised – my favorite oatmeal recipe for early winter. This was last week’s batch:

Directions:
Grease insert of the slow cooker with cooking spray.
Add all ingredients to the slow cooker, stir gently and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Stir before serving.
Serves 4-6 hours.

How do you enjoy your winter mornings more?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tropicana Essentials® Probiotics.

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About Tamara

Tamara is a professional photographer, a mama of two, a Lifestyle Blogger/Social Media Influencer/Brand Ambassador, and a nearly professional cookie taster. She has been known to be all four of those things at all hours of the day and night. She is a very proud contributor to the book, The Mother Of All Meltdowns, the Stigma Fighters Anthology (volume 1), and The HerStories Project: So Glad They Told Me. She is also a proud Community Lead and a regular contributor to the SoFab Food blog, and the Target Made Me Do It blog. After two cross country moves, due to her intense Bi-Coastal Disorder, she lives with her husband, daughter, son, dog, cat, and 11 chickens in glorious western Massachusetts.

I’ve never heard of this Tropicana probiotic drink before, but I’m a huge fan of probios (especially in the winter, when we tend to wreck havoc on our bellies, or is that just me?!). Anyway, thanks for the tip, and I’ll keep my eyes peeled for these 🙂

The winter mornings in the northeast are so difficult for all of the reasons you mentioned; ice on the car, uncomfortable clothes, and cold notwithstanding. These are all great ideas though to beat the winter-time blues–I love the idea of showering first thing in the morning and may have to incorporate that into my daily. Also that oatmeal looks amazeballs!

I had no idea that Tropicana had these. Now I’m going to have to find them at my commissary since they tend to sell a lot of Tropicana products. BTW I love all those tips. A few are things I’m definitely trying to do more of this year.